The Toronto International Film Festival is paying tribute to Meryl Streep, Joaquin Phoenix and filmmaker Taika Waititi in a gala Monday held amid the festival's unspooling premieres.
With the city teeming with stars in town for the festival, TIFF this year added a star-studded fundraising dinner. Streep is being honored the same night her financial industry satire "The Laundromat" is debuting. Also premiering Monday is Phoenix's "Joker," fresh off its Golden Lion win Saturday at the Venice Film Festival.
Waititi is receiving the festival's Ebert Director Award, named after the late film critic Roger Ebert. Cinematographer Roger Deakins will also be given an award, as will "Atlantics" director Mati Diop. The French filmmaker will receive the Mary Pickford Award for an emerging, groundbreaking female talent.
Meryl Streep Streep attends a premiere for "The Laundromat" on day five of the Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, in Toronto. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
Actor Joaquin Phoenix appears next to a vegan ad campaign inside a subway station in Toronto, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (Cole BurstonThe Canadian Press via AP)